The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced its first list of candidates for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections. This list includes 99 candidates, featuring notable figures such as Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule.
BJP releases the first list of 99 candidates for the #MaharashtraElection2024.
---Advertisement---Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis to contest from Nagpur Souty West, state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule from Kamthi, minister Girish Mahajan from Jamner, minister Sudhir Mungantiwar from Ballarpur,… pic.twitter.com/uzPHuWuzIt
— ANI (@ANI) October 20, 2024
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Key Candidates and Their Constituencies
Devendra Fadnavis will contest from the Nagpur South West seat, while Chandrashekhar Bawankule is set to run from Kamthi. Other prominent candidates include Ram Kadam from Ghatkopar West, Shweta Mahale Patil from Chikli, Sreejaya Ashok Chavan from Bhokar, and Nitish Rane from Kankavli. Notably, Sreejaya is the daughter of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who left the Congress party to join the BJP earlier this year.
Election Schedule
The elections for the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly will take place in a single phase on November 20, with the counting of votes scheduled for November 23.
BJP’s Current Political Position
The BJP, which is currently in alliance with Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), is buoyed by a recent victory in Haryana, where they overcame the Congress party.
In the previous Maharashtra Assembly elections in 2019, the BJP and Shiv Sena contested as allies under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), while the Congress and NCP formed the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance secured 161 seats (with the BJP winning 105 and the Shiv Sena 56), while the Congress-NCP alliance obtained 98 seats (NCP 54, Congress 44).
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Political Turmoil and Shifts in Alliances
Despite their pre-poll alliance, tensions arose when the Shiv Sena demanded a rotational Chief Minister arrangement, which the BJP rejected. This disagreement led to a political crisis, culminating in the Shiv Sena breaking ties with the BJP and aligning with the Congress and NCP to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition. Uddhav Thackeray from the Shiv Sena became the Chief Minister, representing a significant shift in Maharashtra’s political landscape.
The MVA coalition governed Maharashtra until mid-2022 when internal conflicts stemming from Eknath Shinde’s rebellion caused its collapse.
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